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Molly Caldwell Crosby signs THE GREAT PEARL HEIST

Molly
Caldwell Crosby once again brings forgotten history to vivid life in an
absorbing account of crime and deduction in the early days of the
twentieth century. . . .

In the summer of 1913, under the cover
of London’s perpetual smoggy dusk, two brilliant minds are pitted
against each other—a celebrated gentleman thief and a talented Scotland
Yard detective—in the greatest jewel heist of the new century. An
exquisite strand of pale pink pearls, worth more than the Hope Diamond,
has been bought by a Hatton Garden broker. Word of the “Mona Lisa of
Pearls” spreads around the world, captivating jewelers as well as
thieves. In transit to London from Paris, the necklace vanishes without a
trace. Joseph Grizzard, “the King of Fences,” is the charming leader of
a vast gang of thieves in London’s East End. Grizzard grew up on the
streets of Whitechapel during the terror of Jack the Ripper to rise to
the top of the criminal world. Wealthy, married, a father, Grizzard
still cannot resist the sport of crime, and the pearl necklace proves an
irresistible challenge. Inspector Alfred Ward patrols the city’s dark,
befogged streets before joining the brand-new division of the
Metropolitan Police known as “detectives.” Ward earns his stripes
catching some of the great murderers of Victorian London and, at the
height of his career, is asked to turn his forensic talents to finding
the missing pearls and the thief who stole them. In the spirit of The Great Train Robbery
and the tales of Sherlock Holmes, this is the true story of a
psychological cat-and-mouse game set against the backdrop of London’s
golden Edwardian era. Thoroughly researched, compellingly colorful, The Great Pearl Heist is a gripping narrative account of this little-known, yet extraordinary crime. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS